Rev. Byron Williams is one of the leading public theologians in the nation. He is a columnist, author, and the former pastor of the Resurrection Community Church in Berkeley, CA.

He is now President and CEO of the Kairos Moment a progressive theological think-tank in Winston-Salem NC.

He is the author of the bestselling 1963: The Year of Hope and Hostility, which won the 2014 International Book Award for US History. His previous book, Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections on the Iraq War, is a series of essays covering a four-year span in what is arguably America’s worst foreign-policy decision.

In 2010 and 2011, Williams' work was nationally recognized by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), which nominated him for “Columnist of the Year.”

Williams has spoken across the country and appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC Radio, Fox News, and National Public Radio.

Every American over 18 should read the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution annually. It's not enough to have read the nation's most sacred documents in high school, memorize a portion of the preamble or know that somewhere in the document that outlines America's intention to break free from British...

It was either a brazen act of defiance by the legislative branch of government or tomfoolery masquerading as the democratic process. But in overriding Governor Pat McCrory's veto of Senate Bill 2, lawmakers in North Carolina demonstrates their opposition to same-gender marriage is greater than their understanding of and adherence...

I have this reoccurring fantasy that every president after George Washington began their first day on the job by uttering "Oh" followed by the appropriate expletive of choice after having read the "For Your Eyes Only" document that ran counter to the America that the new commander in chief articulated...

The events of Baltimore are temporarily in the nation's rearview mirror.

If recent history holds true to form, it will only require that a similar event take place elsewhere, or that the verdict on the six police officers indicted for the death of Freddie Gray not meet expectations within...

The traveling road show known as absurdity recently visited Baltimore. Like its antecedents -- in Ferguson, Missouri; Beavercreek, Ohio; North Charleston, South Carolina; New York City; and elsewhere -- once again an unarmed black man was killed by those sworn to protect and serve.

Not long ago, my wife and I visited the Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC. There was an exhibit highlighting the era of Jim Crow segregation with identical Coke machines. Presumably the machine that cost 5 cents for a soda was reserved for whites while the one costing 10 cents...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." -- The First Amendment

The economic data strongly suggest that the country is headed in a positive direction. The stock market roars, unemployment is down, jobs are being created, the nation's right-track/wrong-track metric is improving, and consumer confidence is up, but something is not quite right.

Eugenics is defined as a movement claiming to improve the genetic features of human populations through selective breeding and sterilization, based on the idea that it is possible to distinguish between superior and inferior elements of society.

This macabre practice is most commonly associated with Nazi Germany. But as...